Adrian man on an Olympic mission

Monday

ADRIAN — The Winter Olympics in South Korea will be the third Olympics for Adrian resident Elias Correa.

He’s not on the bobsledding team nor is he a figure skater, he’s a Christian missionary.

Correa will leave Feb. 15 and be there for nearly two weeks. He said he feels blessed for another opportunity like this.

“I’m excited to go,” Correa, 47, said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I feel blessed to now be part of three Olympic outreaches.”

Correa and his wife, Robyn, both are full-time missionaries. This trip for Correa, like the other two, is with Wings Bearing Precious Seed ministry. He was part of the ministry outreach team at the 2012 Olympics in London and 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro.

Back at home in Adrian, Correa and his family are part of the Berean Baptist Church. He is an ordained minister.

In South Korea, the ministry plans on distributing such things as Bibles to churches and others in South Korea. He said the books and material they will help distribute are many times wanted in these parts of the world, but they might not be readily available. That’s where the ministry comes in. Correa said they want to help get the Scripture and Gospel into the hands of those that want it.

Some of these churches already have the materials, so the missionaries will further connect in other ways in an effort to help the church.

“I want to help,” Correa said simply of his mission work.

He said there are stories in the news they are aware of, such as the recent norovirus outbreak among Olympics security, participants and attendees. However, he’s reminded of the previous Zika scare during his trip to the Rio games.

“We feel like God will protect us,” he said.

He said looking to God and the Bible is the whole basis of this work. Enjoying the missionary work and feeling a call to do it, Correa said he sees firsthand there is a need. Many people have appreciated their help, he added, so that’s a big motivator as well.

“This is a wonderful ministry that’s done an awful lot of help for local churches,” he said of the mission work.

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